Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Current Economic Affairs (1924).pdf/166

152 national wealth from one group of people to another, probably from a relatively small group to one that is very much larger. The last is indicated by the great increase in the number of savings bank accounts, government bondholders, etc. The depletion of the smaller class is much greater than the transfer to the larger class, the difference being measured more or less by the decline in the national rate of saving from 15 per cent of the national income pre-war to perhaps 7 or 8 per cent in 1920–22.

The maim features of internal indebtedness, which represents claims upon the physical wealth of the country by others than the titular holders, may now be summarized as follows:

The above summary omits obviously the claims of state banks and private persons. Conjecturally these would be relatively insignificant in the aggregate. On the other hand it is positive that there are duplications in the above summary. For example, some of the assets of life insurance companies are invested in government bonds and some of the loans of national banks are employed for carrying such securities. Moreover a considerable proportion of the life insurance assets are invested in railroad bonds and stocks. Bearing these conditions in mind, and making due reservations respecting uncertainties, it appears probable that about 20 to 25 per cent of the wealth of the country is